Tray fence



Oct. 9, 1951 F, A, RHINE 2,570,712

TRAY FENCE Filed My 27, 1947 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 F/g 3/3950/1. HH/A/E A TTORNE Y.

F. A. RHINE TRAY FENCE Oct. 9, 1951 2 Sheets-Sheet Filed May 27, 1947 v [Wu/10R. F5227 /1. Hem/E BY ATTORNEY.

Patented Oct. 9, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT 2,570,712 OFFICE TRAY FENCE Fred A. Rhine, Augusta, Kans. Application May 27, 1947, Serial No. 750,671

8 Claims.

My invention relates to an improvement in tray fences. An object of my invention is to provide a fence that may be mounted on and removed from a tray without the use of tools.

A further object is to provide a tray fence of the kind mentioned which, when placed on a tray will prevent tall objects, such as pop bottles and the like from tipping over, or dishes or cups piled one on top of another from sliding and falling from the tray, or the fence will even support a second tray that may be set on top of the fence.

A still further object is to provide a fence of the kind mentioned that is inexpensive, simple and easy to make and install on a tray as well :as being neat and pleasing in appearance.

Now referring to the accompanying drawings in which similar numerals of reference designate the same parts throughout the several figures of the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a top plan view of a tray on which my improved tray fence has been mounted.

Fig. 2 is a side view of the tray and fence shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a detail sectional view through the tray and fence thereon, the view being as seen from the line III-III in Fig. 1 and looking in the direction of the arrows.

Fig. 4 is a perspective view showing the tray and the fence mounted thereon.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged detail sectional view through the edge portion of the tray and one of the leg elements of the fence, the view being as seen from the line V--V in Fig. 1 and looking in the direction of the arrows.

In the drawings is shown a tray 8 having sloping side and end walls 9 and an outwardly extending flange portion l extending therearound.

The fence comprises a pair of stringer or band elements II and I2 that are spaced apart and positioned, one above the other and are rigidly held in this position by the upper portion of several leg elements I3, each of which are rigidly attached, preferably welded, to the stringer or bands II and I2.

The lower portion 13a of each leg I 3 is sprung or bent outwardly and extends downwardly, and the lower end portion of the leg portion l3a is bent inwardly as at [4 to form a hooklike element that may be sprung or slipped under the flange l0 of the tray as a means of substantially attaching the fence to the tray.

The stringers or bands II and i2 are further held in their spaced apart position by means of spacer elements l that are positioned between the pairs of legs l3 on each side and end of the fence and the ends of the spacer elements I5 are rigidly attached, preferably welded, to the stringer or band elements H and I2.

While the device shown in the drawings is probably the preferred form or design of the device, it is to be understood that suchmodification of the device and invention may be employed as lie within the scope of the appended claims without departing from the spirit and intention of the invention. Now having fully shown and described my invention, what I claim is:

1. In a tray fence for use on a tray having a bottom, wall portions around the bottom and defining the depth of the tray and an outwardly disposed flange portion extending around the top edge of the wall portion; a tray fence, said tray fence having in combination, a plurality of fence rails, said fence rails being spaced apart one above the other and being the same shape and dimension as the bottom of the tray on which the tray fence is used, supporting legs, the upper portion of said legs being attached to the said spaced apart fence rails at intervals therearound, said supporting legs being made of springable material and extending well below the bottom rail of the said fence rails and then sloping to the outer edge of the flange of the tray and being springably tensioned inwardly therefrom, the lower end of said supporting legs having inwardly turned lip portions that are receivable under the flange of the tray for purposes of retaining the tray fence on the tray, said fence rails serving to hold the said supporting leg elements in their upright relative positions.

2. In a tray fence for use on a tray having a bottom, wall portions around the bottom and defining the depth of the tray, and an, outwardly disposed flange portion extending around the upper edge of the tray wall; the combination defined in claim 1, said combination being further characterized by the said supporting legs being positioned with two adjacent each corner of the tray fence and with one of these two legs on each side of the bend forming the corner of the tray fence.

3. In a tray fence for use on a tray having a bottom, wall portions around the bottom and defining the depth of the tray, and an outwardly disposed flange portion extending around the upper edge of the tray wall; the combination defined in claim 1, said combination being further characterized by the said supporting legs being positioned with two adjacent each corner of the tray fence and with one of these two legs on each side of the bend forming the corner of the tray fence, and fence rail spacer elements, said fence rail spacer elements being positioned intermediate the fartherest spaced apart supporting legs and each being rigidly attached, one end to one fence rail and the other end to a lower companion fence rail. FRED A. RHINE REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 479,664 Rosenzweig July 26, 1892 1,412,900 Spacke Apr. 18, 1922 1,416,294 Himmelfarb May 16, 1922 1,527,174 Davidson Feb. 24, 1925 1,884,160 Orlick Oct. 25, 1932 1,980,575 Covert Nov. 13, 1934 2,080,865 Lassiter May 18, 1937 2,296,028 Gribble 1 Sept. 15, 1942 2,344,937 Brazier Mar. 21, 1944 

